Early years and where you came from?
I studied Applied Maths at Lisbon University and started my career in the tech industry in a Portuguese consultancy company. After joining a startup I’ve decided to start my own.
How were you introduced to the world of the Portuguese tech industry?
Well, the introduction was quite natural: my first job after graduating was in Lisbon, in a company from the Portugues tech industry ecosystem.
Walk me through your work and what you are doing now in the tech industry.
I am currently the Chief Data Officer & Co-Founder of YData. My role is to establish the roadmap of YData’s deep tech products as well as to decide upon the solutions architectures implementation.
What part of what you do, you love the most?
The ideation process of creating and developing new products, along with the opportunity to work with I’m passionate, data, under such an important topic — privacy.
How do you think that your background and knowledge impact the way you approach your work in the Portuguese tech industry?
I have a very technical background that helped me a lot to understand the tech industry. Also, the opportunity of having experienced both Enterprise and Startup environments (in Portugal and outside), gave me a good perspective if what the Portuguese tech industry is about and how to tackle the different challenges and problems that emerge.
What advice do you have for young women that want to get into tech and don’t know where to start?
Motivation, willing and passion. As long as those three exists, I’m sure that success will be achieved. Thrive always for self-innovation, don’t settle. There always room for more knowledge and new perspectives, and learn as much as possible from all your experiences, from the good and especially from the less good ones.
Make part of a community and keep in mind that in order to receive you’ve always to give first.
Walk me through a day in your life as a Portuguese women in tech.
It varies. As a Co-Founder of an early-stage startup, some days I start product roadmap updates and management of team tasks and future work, whereas in others there are some meetings that I need to attend, with customers or investors. It really depends.
One thing is certain, there are no boring days!
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Give it a try, the “no” it’s already guaranteed.
What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?
On a professional scope: Slack, Zoom, Jupyter Lab, Tensorflow, Pytorch and Pycharm
Personally: Whatsapp and Instagram.
👉Find Fabiana on LinkedIn and check this article.
